Iran pays the Taliban to kill US soldiers

A treasurer for the Afghan insurgents tells how front companies are paying a $1,000 bounty for each death

Iranian companies in Kabul are using their offices covertly to finance the Taliban (Reuters)
Nobody would have noticed the Taliban treasurer’s arrival at an office in
Kabul with his assistant in tow: he had dressed in western clothes and
clipped his beard to avoid attracting attention.

Directed to a small room furnished with a single table and chair, he was told
to wait. Ten minutes later he was joined by a smartly suited Iranian
businessman carrying a briefcase full of cash.

The treasurer lifted one bundle of notes after another from the case, counting
$18,000 (£11,646) in all. Then he wrapped the money carefully in old clothes
and stuffed it into a large sack of flour.

He left the office of the Iranian construction company as unobtrusively as he
had come and jumped into a taxi. After 20 minutes, his assistant emerged
into the early August sunshine with the sack, hailing a cab of his own.